First off, thanks for all your votes and comments regarding yesterday's poll on Kevin Bieksa.
The poll showed an interesting range of opinions, but it sounds like the majority of fans feel that while his on-ice play isn't what it used to be, they still carry an attachment due to his leadership and toughness.
Dealing with his injury should be less daunting for the Canucks, at least, with 21-year-old Frank Corrado ready to step in.
When the Dallas Stars were dealing with injuries on their blue line earlier this season, they called up a 22-year-old Swede named John Klingberg, who was drafted in the fifth round in 2010 (though he played just three games for Willie Desjardins in Texas last season—he spent most of the year in Sweden with Frolunda).
The kid has stuck in the lineup and is now playing top-pairing minutes with Alex Goligoski. He has 18 points in 32 games and helped allow the Stars to trade 40-year-old Sergei Gonchar.
I'm not saying that Bieksa's as expendable for the Canucks as Gonchar was for the Stars. And Corrado's a year younger than Klingberg. But they were taken at similar points in the draft.
For me, Klingberg's story is a pretty perfect blueprint for how a team can use injury woes to bring their young players along.
All-Star Game Notes
I'm surprised, but not surprised, at the number of players who are opting out of the All-Star Festivities to rest their bodies. I can understand why the prospect of a few days of R+R is appealing, especially for the guys who have been playing hurt. But I was under the impression that the league carried a pretty heavy hammer in terms of demanding participation from its best players, so I'm surprised to see so many guys opting out so close to showtime.
After Sidney Crosby's withdrawal yesterday, the NHL did say that he won't be allowed to participate in Pittsburgh's first game back next week. Essentially, that's a one-game suspension. Or, you could look at it as an extra game off to recover from what's ailing him and hopefully put himself in a better place to compete hard down the stretch and into the playoffs.
Players may also be more eager to skip the proceedings because the league itself has played a role in pushing an already frivolous event even further into obscurity. The fact that we haven't had an All-Star Game for the past two seasons makes it seem, more than ever, like an antiquated tradition. And the Fantasy Draft format makes the teams so random—there are no stakes at all in the game.
I'd think at this point that the league could ignite a small spark of competitive spirit if it went back to the old East vs. West format.
That being said, I enjoy All-Star weekend for its low-stakes approach to fun, and I don't think the NHL will be eliminating it anytime soon. Like the outdoor games, it's an event run by the league, where the revenue goes directly into their pockets. It's also an excellent chance for them to offer up hospitality and networking opportunities to the league's key sponsors.
For some of those business owners and managers, chances like these to be wined and dined and rub shoulders with the players are some of the biggest reasons why they decide to spend their promotional dollars in the NHL arena.
One brand new sponsor is GoPro, who look like they'll be giving back some real value-added to fans thanks to their new affiliation:
If you'd care to join me, here's the schedule for this weekend's activities:
Friday - Fantasy Draft - 5 p.m. - Sportsnet Saturday - Skills Competition - 4 p.m. - CBC Sunday - All-Star Game - 2 p.m. - CBC
I'll be liveblogging the game on Sunday for Bleacher Report.
The Falling Dollar
The Canadian Dollar started dropping in 2014 and has fallen even faster since the New Year. This week, it flirted with the 80 cent mark, prompting further concerns about what this means for the economic health of Canadian NHL franchises, who do most of their business in US dollars.
Jim Jamieson reports that the Canucks' situation is fine for the time being in an article in today's Province.
“It’s a business risk, but we have the mechanisms in place to deal with it,… said Canucks chief operating officer Victor de Bonis on Thursday.“Right now we’re in a more positive position that we were last time the (US) dollar was at $1.60 (in 2002).…
De Bonis said there are clauses in the current NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement to account for fluctuations in the Canadian dollar that help safeguard Canadian teams.
As De Bonis points out, it's not like this is a new situation for the league. The Canadian dollar is usually weaker than its American cousin, and was at the 80 cent mark as recently as 2009—not so long ago, really. If anything, these high-value years have probably been treated as a bit of a bonus by the Canadian franchises and the league.
The question that keeps arising, though, is how this currency fluctuation will impact next year's salary cap.
If hockey-related revenues drop significantly because Canadian revenues are worth less, we might not see the jump to $73 million that was originally estimated for next year's cap. That'll put pressure on teams looking to sign or re-sign players and could also provide some interesting opportunities for teams with cap space.
It's a situation worth keeping an eye on through the second half of the season.